Mixiotes of Woodland Mushrooms with Mojo de Ajo

After an appetizer of popcorn and some light hazing, John and I had to make some dinner for our dinner club. Using the mojo de ajo, since we made a metric fuckton of it, we served these here mushrooms.

Guys, please make this dish. It is super easy, and I think it would go well with a lot of things. We used it as a side to pasta, but it would work with tacos, over lots of meats, in a sandwich. It’s just a good way to cook mushrooms. I went over to Central Market and got a few extremely expensive mushrooms and some shiitakes. We already had the bacon and the mojo.

The only thing we didn’t have were the epazote leaves. You can also use hoja santa leaves. According to Rick Bayless, they grow right along the Riverwalk and you can just pick them. But I have a job and two dogs and a lot of reality TV to watch, so I didn’t make the time to take a stroll down the river and pick some leaves. So we used cilantro. It was still good, y’all. I have no idea what the epazote or hoja santa would have tasted like, but if you can’t find it, use some cilantro.

To make this recipe, you basically cut up some mushrooms and bacon, drizzle it with oil and cilantro, tie it up in parchment paper, and bake it. That’s it. So easy. You can make it before people come over and reheat them, or eat them at room temperature. Super easy.

1. Soak the parchment. Cut four 12-inch squares of parchment paper, loosely roll them together submerge them in a large bowl of tap water and weight with a light plate to keep them submerged. Soak 30 minutes.

2. Form and bake the packages. Turn on the oven to 325 degrees. Lay the soaked parchment pieces out on your work surface. If using the hoja santa, place 1/2 leaf (or a whole leaf if you’re using small ones) in the center of each parchment square. In a large bowl, mix the sliced mushrooms, bacon and garlic mojo (throw in the epazote leaves that’s what you’re using). Sprinkle with the salt, stir to coat everything evenly, then scoop a portion into the center of each parchment piece. Gather up the corners of each one to form a pouch. Pinch the parchment together just above the mushrooms and tie securely with a piece of string or raffia. Slide onto a baking sheet, then slide the sheet into the oven. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the mixture is bubbling vigorously in the packages.

3. Serve. Open the packages in front of your guests so they can enjoy the explosion of aroma into the room. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze on plus fresh tortillas for making soft tacos or toasted baguette for making montaditos.

Responses

I found dried epazote at the La Fiesta market on Culebra for a squash taco recipe I made the other night. I’m thinking you could get away with using that instead of the fresh stuff. Just be sure to use a smaller quantity. In addition to adding flavor, epazote is supposed to make you less gassy.

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